What are your beliefs about death ?

[Marcion Meets E. Sibyl]

The last two are not separate options. In the Buddhist worldview, the chain of reincarnations eventually gets you to liberation from it (NIrwana).

Quite an elegant philosphy. But just as unfounded as all the others.

Fact is: We don´t know. Like it or not.

Hi Zaphod222,

I take my personal experience of the Void (the beginning process of Nirvana) versus the vague Buddhist "worldview." Nirvana is "characterized by freedom from or oblivion to pain, worry, and the external world," according to Dictionary dot com. "Freedom," that amazing word is thrown so easily that in the end the meaning becomes zilch. To be frank with you, I believe Buddha never attained Nirvana, the "true" sense of the word, while he was alive. No one on earth has achieved it; otherwise, one wouldn't be here. Read my past posts to know where I'm coming from on this (to not repeat myself).

Unfounded to you, yes. Fact is, you wouldn't have the nerve to enter it if it were given you -- just an assumption.

Peace.

Edited January 24, 2013 by braveone2u

[Marcion Meets E. Sibyl]

I don't believe in anything...

You look too stylish to not believe in anything. Peace and loveliness.

[AsteroidX]

cycle of rebirth

[Frank Merton]

You look too stylish to not believe in anything. Peace and loveliness.

I kinda agree with her; don't "believe" in anything. Have opinions about everything but don't let them sink to the unreasoning level of beliefs. Always cherish a little doubt.

[Marcion Meets E. Sibyl]

Hi Frank Merton,

To doubt is normal, especially since you haven't experienced death and resurrection, or at least you don't have any recollection. I, on the other hand, can't afford to doubt anymore. This lifetime has been giving me quite a number of situations to really ponder and decide. This came to me again after I decided to go back to my Christian root:

"And he said: 'I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven...'" (Matthew 18:3)

Have you ever cried out for guidance and comfort, coming from the depths of your being? I literally became like a helpless child crying out to the Lord because 2012 was the zenith of my earthly travails with my fear of going back to that Void, to top it all off. It's interesting that Matthew 25:30 came to me during a recent online research (speaking of strange and yet, important to me): "And cast you the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

My renewed faith in Jesus Christ has given me hope, and that says quite a bit.

In a way, I'm like the modern day Jonah. It is fascinating that I didn't have a nervous breakdown. Then again, the head of my order (when I was a meditation teacher) told me that it's not in my character to fall apart. Have you ever seen the movie The Bible: In the Beginning...? If so, watch Hagar's scene in the desert with her dying son Ishmael.

If you wish to read more, please follow the link:

http://www.unexplain...5

Peace.

Paul

Edited January 24, 2013 by braveone2u

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

Interesting logic there. So you assume that Yahweeh, Allah, Buddha and all the rest of the pantheon all exist at the same time?

Not exactly, my position has always been we "blind men describing an elephant" in relation to matters spiritual and deistic, so all teh belief systems are supported and supportable but they're all only describing part of a greater unknowable whole.

As for the afterlife, it makes sense that what happens to us, in light of the whole elephant business, is exactly what we'd expect to happen to us because of the cosmology we create around ourselves. I'll be having endless drinks on a beach with a library the size of Manhattan, Richard Dawkins will cease to exist, the Dali Lama will be reborn of Earth and so on and so forth.

[AsteroidX]

Or we die and cease to exist. Unfortunately there only one to find out and Im not ready for that yet so Ill continue to believe in what I believe in what I do.

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

Or we die and cease to exist. Unfortunately there only one to find out and Im not ready for that yet so Ill continue to believe in what I believe in what I do.

Well quite.

I'm not emotionally mature enough to be prepared to accept that possibility yet, so I'll happily delude myself with thoughts of crystal blue seas and golden sands and more books then stars in the nights sky.

[Frank Merton]

We are born with an instinct to stick with the beliefs of childhood (it evolved to support group cohesion). This is wired into us and explains why Egyptians tend to be Muslims, Thais tend to be Buddhists, Italians tend to be Catholics, and so on, in spite of all the conflicting ideas thrown at us all the time.

Therefore when I hear of someone going "back" to the old certitudes of childhood, I figure they have been under stress and sought an escape through the qualia that this instinct provides us when we revert -- joy being the main one, but also peace and comfort and resolution.

[Grandpa Greenman]

We are born with an instinct to stick with the beliefs of childhood (it evolved to support group cohesion). This is wired into us and explains why Egyptians tend to be Muslims, Thais tend to be Buddhists, Italians tend to be Catholics, and so on, in spite of all the conflicting ideas thrown at us all the time.

Therefore when I hear of someone going "back" to the old certitudes of childhood, I figure they have been under stress and sought an escape through the qualia that this instinct provides us when we revert -- joy being the main one, but also peace and comfort and resolution.

I don't think it is instinct, I think it is brainwashing. People want to raise thing children in what they believe to be right and proper. I know many people who have walked away from the belief systems the learned as children. Even under times of high stress I would rather dive head first in a snake pit than go to a Baptist church.

[Frank Merton]

I don't think it is instinct, I think it is brainwashing. People want to raise thing children in what they believe to be right and proper. I know many people who have walked away from the belief systems the learned as children. Even under times of high stress I would rather dive head first in a snake pit than go to a Baptist church.

Well of course it is brainwashing, but I wanted to avoid being so blunt.

Yes many have walked away from such beliefs, but always with struggle and usually a residue of anger at the emotional difficulties (fear, guilt, worry) of the walking-away process. This reflects the fact that instincts enforce themselves in emotions.

[hellig heilige]

Yes many have walked away from such beliefs, but always with struggle and usually a residue of anger at the emotional difficulties (fear, guilt, worry) of the walking-away process.

To walk away from something you believe in is always a struggle, be it atheism, Christianity, Hinduism, bah bah. You're really not saying anything profound.

This reflects the fact that instincts enforce themselves in emotions.

Are you a psychologist? Do you have credentials?

[Zaphod222]

Not exactly, my position has always been we "blind men describing an elephant" in relation to matters spiritual and deistic, so all teh belief systems are supported and supportable but they're all only describing part of a greater unknowable whole.

But an elephant is a knowable. The existance of elephants is a verifiable fact. So theists are not blind men describing an elephant; they are blind men describing a fictional Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Fact is, we do not know. Neither did any of the self-declared prophets know. Live with it.

[Zaphod222]

We are born with an instinct to stick with the beliefs of childhood (it evolved to support group cohesion). This is wired into us and explains why Egyptians tend to be Muslims, Thais tend to be Buddhists, Italians tend to be Catholics, and so on, in spite of all the conflicting ideas thrown at us all the time.

No. Egyptians do not "tend" do be muslims, they are 90% muslim now, because Egypt was conquered by muslim armees, and Shariah law was enforced. And Shariah law is designed to increase the muslim population and decrease the non-muslim population (for example by dhimmi laws, by apostesy laws and polygamy).

That is why today the previously 100% Coptic Christian population of Egypt has now shrunk to 10%.

Likewise, in Thailand, which you mention, Thais are almost all Buddhists, except in the Southern Provinces, which have a muslim population, which is perpetuating brutal terrorism in a campaign to create an independent muslim state. Sounds familiar?

There is no "tending to" involved in all of this, this is the result of a deeply political religion.

Edited January 26, 2013 by Zaphod222